Hartley scores career-high 30 in UConn’s 30-point rout of Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Bria Hartley acknowledged she is a streaky shooter. She had one of her good days against Rutgers.

The senior guard scored a career-high 30 points, including hitting six 3-pointers, to lead top-ranked UConn to a 94-64 win over No. 23 Rutgers on Sunday.

“If I hit them I keep going, if I miss them all I keep going,” Hartley said. “I’ve got to stay with my shot and I’ll be confident that I’ll eventually make them.”

Hartley didn’t miss too many, making 11 of her 15 attempts. The last time she played at Rutgers, she had a game to forget, going scoreless in just four minutes. Hartley wasn’t the only Huskies player hitting shots. The team shot a blistering 57 percent from the field.

“I think offensively we all were on the same page and had a really good flow the entire game,” Hartley said. “The mixture of shots inside and outside and everyone was able to hit shots.”

UConn (19-0, 6-0 American) has won 25 straight games, the sixth longest streak in school history.

Stewart starts hot

The Huskies raced out to an 18-6 lead in the game’s first five minutes. Breanna Stewart had eight of the team’s first 18 points as the Huskies didn’t miss many from the field. UConn extended the advantage to 41-20 on the 6-foot-4 sophomore’s layup with 4:58 left before Rutgers closed the half with a 9-2 burst to trail 43-29 at the half.

“We got such great balance, Stewie and Stef (Dolson) kept things together,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “It was a great team effort, everyone played great.”

UConn was still playing without sophomore forward Morgan Tuck, who is dealing with swelling in her right knee. It will be the 11th game this season that she has missed due to knee-related issues, including the last three.

Stringer says it

UConn has dominated the series winning 31 of the 37 meetings, though Rutgers did win five of eight from 2005 and 2008. The Huskies have won the last 11 games.

Rutgers, which entered the Top 25 this week for the first time since the final poll of the 2011-12 season, has dropped two straight overall after its nine-game winning streak ended. That was the school’s longest since the Scarlet Knights won 12 in a row from Dec. 8, 2007 to Jan. 26, 2008. Rutgers was once again done in by a lack of contribution from its bench. The Scarlet Knights reserves didn’t score in the loss to Memphis on Tuesday and got their first point on a free throw with 13:42 left in the game. They finished with three points.

In the first half, Scaife had 15 points and Copper had 10. The rest of the team was a combined 2-for-11 from the field.